About Springside Landscape Restoration

Springside Landscape Restoration (SLR) was organized to acquire, protect, and restore Andrew Jackson Downing’s historic landscape. Formed in 1984 as the result of a compromise agreement between a developer who wanted to build condominiums on the site and local preservationists who fought to protect it, SLR was officially established in 1986. SLR was deeded the property in 1990.

The organization’s preservation efforts are guided by a management and maintenance plan, the Springside National Historic Landmark Master Plan, 1989 and a subsequent update. The latter focuses on short-term and on-going management actions that local volunteers can undertake to stabilize the site, prevent further destruction, and safeguard its essential surviving features.

Key Accomplishments

2024

• Conducted a Strategic Planning Initiative with funding from the Dyson Foundation
• Installed benches in memory of Karen Markeloff & Ken Lutters
• Repainted and repaired the Porter’s Lodge
• Planted a Swamp White Oak in honor of Virginia Hancock
• Planted new trees in Evergreen Park

2023

• Repaired the main water valve to the Porter’s Lodge
• Repaired the stone wall along Academy Street
• Planted new trees in Evergreen Park
• Commissioned report on the interpretive recommendations on the Gardener’s Cottage ruins
• Designed new website, featuring a virtual video tour and Carriage Trails essays
• Installed new trail markers with individualized QR codes linked to additional content and audio descriptions of the site
• Developed a new interpretive walking tour and map funded, in part by the Hudson River Valley Greenway

2000s and Earlier

• Repainted and repaired the Porter’s Lodge (2000)
• Partnered with the Hudson River Valley Greenway to designate Springside a link in the Greenway Trail system
• Updated website through funding from Parks & Trails NY
• Repaired the stone piers at Cottage Avenue and the well-cover at Willow Spring
• Commissioned historical paint analysis for the Porter’s Lodge
• Conducted archaeological investigation to determine location of carriageway alignment and underground water conveyance system
• Cleared 20 acres of secondary growth that had overtaken the design
• Saved Springside from development